Global finance, in the early 2000s, was increasingly dollar-centric with gold playing a diminishing role in the central bank reserves. This trend hardly seems to hold anymore as the over the past quarter-century, central banks across the world - particularly in the emerging markets - have rebuilt their gold holdings. There has been a marked shift in the composition of official gold reserves over the last 25 years. We are looking at the top 12 countries that have seen their share of gold reserves grow the most from 2000 to 2024.
Here are some key takeaways from this data:
- Russia accumulated the most gold since 2000 - reflecting a long-term strategy of reducing dependency on U.S. dollar assets and building buffers against Western sanctions and external financial pressures.
- China and India, the world’s two largest emerging markets, have sharply expanded their gold holdings over the past quarter-century, lifting gold’s share within rapidly growing foreign exchange reserves - implementing a policy of diversification in assets.
- Türkiye increased gold’s share in its foreign exchange reserves from 4.36% in 2000 to 36.31% in 2024, using it as a stabilising anchor amid recurring currency stress and balance-of-payments pressures.
- Kazakhstan doubled gold’s share in its reserve assets over the past 25 years, supported by a strong domestic refining industry that has enabled steady accumulation without heavy reliance on external markets.
- Thailand diversified away from dollar-denominated assets, increasing gold holdings as a hedge against inflation, global financial volatility, and rising geopolitical risk.
- Qatar raised gold’s share in its foreign exchange reserves from 0.45% in 2000 to 17.22% in 2024, positioning bullion as a strategic hedge against currency swings and inflation risk.
- Hungary emerged as one of Central Europe’s largest gold holders after embarking on an aggressive buying programme from 2018, framing gold as a financial stability tool amid heightened global uncertainty.
Note: Net change in official gold reserves, 2000–2024. Figures rounded and in tonnes.
Source: Central Banks, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, IMF, World Bank, World Gold Council.
Access data here: https://www.gold.org/goldhub/data/gold-reserves-by-country
